Healing and the Koinonia: Therapeutic Dynamics of Church Community

The concept of the church as a sharing community is particularly compatible with the social psychiatric concept of healing community. Indeed, healing community has emerged as a social phenomenon among lay Christian groups and church communities. Almond's concepts of communitas and healing charisma, among others, help to explain the processes of psychological healing in groups that can be identified as healing communities. A description of a church community that has also functioned as a healing community is given, and some special characteristics of church healing community are suggested.